NBA 2019-20: Top 5 mid-range scorers in the league right now

A lot of people these days say that the mid-range game is dead. That is true to a certain extent, because the number of shots taken from that region has come down significantly in the last few years.

With three-point shot becoming the new norm, players rarely take shots from mid-range. Like they say, a three is better than a two.

However, there are still players in the league for whom the mid-range is bread and butter, and they rely heavily on it. Even though the layup and the three-point shot are the most popular ways to score these days, a mid-range shot is still very important down the stretch, when the opposition defenses take away the layup and three-point shot.

On that note, let us take a look at five best mid-range scorers in the league right now.

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#5 D'Angelo Russell

D'Angelo Russell is currently having the best season of his career

D'Angelo Russell is one of the best young pure scorers in the league right now. Playing for his new team Golden State Warriors, Russell has shown that he has all the required skills to play at a very high level.

His heroics this season include a 52-point outing against the Minnesota Timberwolves. And while the Warriors are already going full tank mode this season, Russell has been showing up every single night, putting in the effort to take them home.

The 23-year-old is an elite shooter and can really let it fly from anywhere on the court. While his three-point shooting skill gets all the attention, his mid-range shooting is something that is rarely talked about.

Russell is highly efficient from mid-range, and that is in fact one of his sweet spots. He is averaging 3.1 shot attempts per game and is knocking them down at an impressive 54.5% this season.

#4 Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving uses his skill to knock down from mid-range

Kyrie Irving is one of the most fearsome scorers in the league today. Widely acclaimed as the best dribbler in the league, Kyrie can dance his way to the rim and score, or use his skill to create space and pull up from mid-range with equal efficiency.

Even though he does not rely on his mid-range game heavily, he can still knock them down at will. For a player as skilled as Kyrie the mid-range game is not really significant, but it still gives him more options to score.

Just like we would expect, Kyrie is only attempting 2.3 shots per game from the mid-range land this season.

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#3 CJ McCollum

McCollum is known for catching fire from mid-range

CJ McCollum is one of the game's most efficient scorers from mid-range. Even though he has the ability to get to the rim or shoot from long range, CJ likes to rely on his mid-range jumper, which on most occasions finds the net.

Last year, against the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals, CJ put on a show from mid-range and erupted for 37 points on 16-26 from two-point land - and most of his key buckets down the stretch came from mid-range. He was unstoppable, and with Jokic under the rim and wings taking away the three-point shot, it was his mid-range game that helped Portland reach their first Conference Finals in a while.

This 2019-20 NBA season, McCollum is leading the league in FGA from mid-range (15ft-19ft.) with 4.0 attempts per game on a high accuracy of 47.5%.

#2 Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi Leonard's pull up jumper is money

Kawhi Leonard is one of the top three players in the NBA right now, and it is incredible how he brings out the same intensity on both ends of the floor every single day. There are no weaknesses in his game, and a lot of analysts even say that he is the closest thing to Jordan.

Leonard is known for his smooth pull up jumper and most of the times when he pulls out that shot, it is money. He is almost unstoppable from the mid-range but the fact that he is almost equally good from everywhere else takes the attention off his mid-range game.

This season, Kawhi is shooting 53.8% from 15-19 ft. distance on 3.7 shot attempts per game.

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#1 DeMar DeRozan

DeMar DeRozan is the purest mid-range shooter in the league

This should not even be a surprise. We have DeMar DeRozan at #1 on this list as he has been the best mid-range player in the league for the past few years. He relies heavily on his mid-range shots and knocks them down with high efficiency.

DeRozan is not the greatest three-point shooter, which is evident from his career three-point shooting percentage of 28.3. He gets most of his points from mid-range shots. DeRozan can pull off any move from his favorite spot, and even some of the best defenders in the league find it difficult to stop him from there.

This year, he is shooting at 47.1% from 15-19 ft. distance and is taking as many as 3.8 shots every game. If DeMar had developed a reliable 3-ball, I have no doubt that he would have been among the top five offensive players in the NBA.